Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures
1“Surely there is a mine for silver
And a place where they refine gold.
2Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4He sinks a shaft far from habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
5The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
6Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the base.
10He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11He dams up the streams from flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
12“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.
19The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
21Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23“God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24For He looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
25When He imparted weight to the wind
And meted out the waters by measure,
26When He set a limit for the rain
And a course for the thunderbolt,
27Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”